“The crash of American Airlines flight 587 in November 2001 was caused by an in flight separation of the plane’s vertical stabilizer as a result of aerodynamic loads that were created by the first officer’s unnecessary and excessive rudder pedal inputs after the aircraft encountered wake turbulence, according to a final report adopted by the NTSB. The Board said that contributing to the crash were characteristics of the airplane’s rudder system design and elements of the airline’s pilot training program.” (NTSB)